Toyota has been backed into a corner, having to respond to buy-back allegations concerning faulty vehicles via a recent press release. The automotive company, which denies that owners of defective vehicles were ‘bought off’, has had to defend itself against not only a current and fully-fledged Californian lawsuit in the US District Court, but also against public criticism ensuing from subsequently ‘revealed’ facts of the case.

The current lawsuit pertains to several customers’ claims that their Toyota vehicles were defective, specifically subject to what is being described as “unintended acceleration”. Though most claimants have not suffered injury or fatality on account of the defect, they are nonetheless within their rights to seek damages against the company for the potentially decreased resale value resulting from media hype surrounding the defect and recall.

Notably, the case has taken another twist, with several claimants alleging that the company conspired with other patrons to conceal the technical faults from the press and public.

According to several undisclosed sources, some of the claimants have amended previous statements of claim, now accusing Toyota of knowingly purchasing defective vehicles from other owners following complaints of ‘unintended acceleration.’ Reportedly, these statements also assert that such reimbursed owners were subject to confidentiality contracts, whereby they could not disclose the agreement to any other party, namely the media.

The fully-fledged legal matter has also highlighted other concerns, bringing to light the suggestion of some that the company failed to satisfactorily inform the NHTSA of such events and actions.

In the recent press release, Toyota completely refuted the interpretation of the events at hand and the fiery allegations leveled against the company.

“Field technical specialists and engineers were deployed in response to reports of two acceleration events that dealer technicians reportedly observed. At these dealerships, Toyota FTS and engineers were unable to duplicate the condition and the vehicles were repurchased from the customers for further engineering analysis.”

The claim is a far cry from the accusations being made by several claimants. In fact, the company also claimed that a thorough analysis of these vehicles revealed that FTS and engineers could not find any signs of the alleged acceleration concerns and related issues. The spokesperson went on to add that “test driving of these vehicles is ongoing and they are operating safely.”

To wrap up the release, the company vehemently insisted its commitment to fully informing the NHTSA, claiming it kept the body fully informed on three occasions pertaining to the two vehicles involved.

Moreover, the brand claims it is looking forward to defending itself against the allegations inferred by the amended statements of claim in the lawsuit.